Mike Hornbrook from CBC: Hezbullah Cash is REAL
Mike Hornbrook, a CBC journalist on the ground in Lebanon, has popped in here at Snapped Shot, and informs us (unofficiallyâthis is not a statement endorsed by the CBC) from on the ground in Lebanon, that there are no indications that Hezbullah is handing out counterfeit money:
UPDATE 12:03 EST: Sticky Notes informs us via e-mail that Myrtus notes that Hezbullah doesn't seem to be getting this cash from banks. This might be significant, or it might notâI can easily imagine private Saudi-owned jets ferrying suitcases full of cash around the Middle East. Plus, as Myrtus notes, Hezbullah is not designated a terrorist organization by Europe, so you know Euro-dollars are flowing there pretty freely. Sorry, SN, but I don't see anything in here that would support the counterfeiting story...
(In a brief update shortly thereafter, Sticky Notes directed us to the actual article, which says that, "[t]he money is widely believed to have come from Iran, the main backer of the group, but Salameh said Hizbollah's action did not violate Lebanon's laws, adding that the central bank was ready to answer any international inquiries.")
UPDATE 13:06 EST: Just noticed Sticky Notes' excellent article on Korean supernotes. Food for thought.
Keep on reading the full article for my take on the story, if it does turn out that these are real bills.
UPDATE 14:11 EST: Got a followup e-mail from Mike. He wants to make sure we're aware that he's not speaking officially for the CBC, so let me duly note that up front. He also says that he was investigating the story after reading about it in David Frum's article. Check out the full article for details.
UPDATE 1-SEP-2006 15:21 EST: Sticky Notes has continued to do an excellent job tracking "supernotes" and the Axis of Evil. Here's a good Lebanese blog that's tracking the progress of this story, with good background on Hezbullah's activities. To date, nobody but Allahpundit has really acknowledged our information from Mike Hornbrook. I'll do my best to follow up with Mike on everyone's questions in the mean time. Continue reading »
With all respect to bloggers who sometimes discover things missed by mainstream media, this story about Hezbollah handing out counterfeit $100 bills is completely insane!
Unlike any of them, I am on the ground in Beirut reporting for CBC News and have checked it out. We could not find a single person complaining about phony money. Furthermore, the very idea shows a profound ignorance of Lebanon and Hezbollah. Lebanon is a major banking center, every bank has counterfeit scanners and other tools for detecting counterfeits. Not just the banks either, every money-changer and supermarket also has a scanner next to the cash register. From personal experience I can tell you they check out $100 USD bills very very carefully, phonies would be detected in an instant. This would bring outraged complaints from people in desperate circumstances that would be a huge embarassment to Hezbollah. No such scandal has emerged because the phony money story is itself phony. The people circulating the story are doing it for their own reasons, but as a journalist I can tell you they are absolutely, totally wrong.
UPDATE 12:03 EST: Sticky Notes informs us via e-mail that Myrtus notes that Hezbullah doesn't seem to be getting this cash from banks. This might be significant, or it might notâI can easily imagine private Saudi-owned jets ferrying suitcases full of cash around the Middle East. Plus, as Myrtus notes, Hezbullah is not designated a terrorist organization by Europe, so you know Euro-dollars are flowing there pretty freely. Sorry, SN, but I don't see anything in here that would support the counterfeiting story...
(In a brief update shortly thereafter, Sticky Notes directed us to the actual article, which says that, "[t]he money is widely believed to have come from Iran, the main backer of the group, but Salameh said Hizbollah's action did not violate Lebanon's laws, adding that the central bank was ready to answer any international inquiries.")
UPDATE 13:06 EST: Just noticed Sticky Notes' excellent article on Korean supernotes. Food for thought.
Keep on reading the full article for my take on the story, if it does turn out that these are real bills.
UPDATE 14:11 EST: Got a followup e-mail from Mike. He wants to make sure we're aware that he's not speaking officially for the CBC, so let me duly note that up front. He also says that he was investigating the story after reading about it in David Frum's article. Check out the full article for details.
UPDATE 1-SEP-2006 15:21 EST: Sticky Notes has continued to do an excellent job tracking "supernotes" and the Axis of Evil. Here's a good Lebanese blog that's tracking the progress of this story, with good background on Hezbullah's activities. To date, nobody but Allahpundit has really acknowledged our information from Mike Hornbrook. I'll do my best to follow up with Mike on everyone's questions in the mean time. Continue reading »
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